CCC Cross Reference:
Gn 23:4 145
Mt 9:12 581; Mt 9:13 589, 2100
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Reading 1
Gn 23:1-4, 19; 24:1-8, 62-67
The span of Sarah’s life was one hundred and twenty-seven years.
She died in Kiriatharba (that is, Hebron)
in the land of Canaan,
and Abraham performed the customary mourning rites for her.
Then he left the side of his dead one and addressed the Hittites:
“Although I am a resident alien among you,
sell me from your holdings a piece of property for a burial ground,
that I may bury my dead wife.”
After the transaction, Abraham buried his wife Sarah
in the cave of the field of Machpelah,
facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
Abraham had now reached a ripe old age,
and the Lord had blessed him in every way.
Abraham said to the senior servant of his household,
who had charge of all his possessions:
“Put your hand under my thigh,
and I will make you swear by the Lord,
the God of heaven and the God of earth,
that you will not procure a wife for my son
from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live,
but that you will go to my own land and to my kindred
to get a wife for my son Isaac.”
The servant asked him:
“What if the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land?
Should I then take your son back to the land from which you migrated?”
“Never take my son back there for any reason,” Abraham told him.
“The Lord, the God of heaven,
who took me from my father’s house and the land of my kin,
and who confirmed by oath the promise he then made to me,
‘I will give this land to your descendants’–
he will send his messenger before you,
and you will obtain a wife for my son there.
If the woman is unwilling to follow you,
you will be released from this oath.
But never take my son back there!”
A long time later, Isaac went to live in the region of the Negeb.
One day toward evening he went out . . . in the field,
and as he looked around, he noticed that camels were approaching.
Rebekah, too, was looking about, and when she saw him,
she alighted from her camel and asked the servant,
“Who is the man out there, walking through the fields toward us?”
“That is my master,” replied the servant.
Then she covered herself with her veil.
The servant recounted to Isaac all the things he had done.
Then Isaac took Rebekah into his tent;
he married her, and thus she became his wife.
In his love for her, Isaac found solace
after the death of his mother Sarah.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 106:1b-2, 3-4a, 4b-5
R. (1b) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Who can tell the mighty deeds of the Lord,
or proclaim all his praises?
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Visit me with your saving help,
That I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of your people,
and glory with your inheritance.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Gospel
Mt 9:9-13
As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
He heard this and said,
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Genesis 23:1 - 24:67
It happened some time later that Abraham received word that Milcah, too, had now borne sons to his brother Nahor: Uz his first-born, Buz his brother, Kemuel Aram’s father, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, Bethuel (and Bethuel was the father of Rebekah). These are the eight children Milcah gave Nahor, Abraham’s brother. He had a concubine named Reumah, and she too had children: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.
The length of Sarah’s life was a hundred and twenty-seven years. She died at Kiriath-arba, or Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn and grieve for her.
After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah opposite Mamre, in the country of Canaan.
By now Abraham was an old man well on in years, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. Abraham said to the eldest servant of his household, the steward of all his property, ‘Place your hand under my thigh, I would have you swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live. Instead, go to my own land and my own kinsfolk to choose a wife for my son Isaac.’ The servant asked him, ‘What if the woman does not want to come with me to this country? Must I take your son back to the country from which you came?’ Abraham answered, ‘On no account take my son back there. The Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, took me from my father’s home, and from the land of my kinsfolk, and he swore to me that he would give this country to my descendants. He will now send his angel ahead of you, so that you may choose a wife for my son there. And if the woman does not want to come with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.’
Isaac, who lived in the Negeb, had meanwhile come into the wilderness of the well of Lahai Roi. Now Isaac went walking in the fields as evening fell, and looking up saw camels approaching. And Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She jumped down from her camel, and asked the servant, ‘Who is that man walking through the fields to meet us?’ The servant replied, ‘That is my master’; then she took her veil and hid her face. The servant told Isaac the whole story, and Isaac led Rebekah into his tent and made her his wife; and he loved her. And so Isaac was consoled for the loss of his mother.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 105(106):1-5
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
or
Alleluia!
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love endures for ever.
Who can tell the Lord’s mighty deeds?
Who can recount all his praise?
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
or
Alleluia!
They are happy who do what is right,
who at all times do what is just.
O Lord, remember me
out of the love you have for your people.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
or
Alleluia!
Come to me, Lord, with your help
that I may see the joy of your chosen ones
and may rejoice in the gladness of your nation
and share the glory of your people.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Matthew 9:9 – 13
As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me’. And he got up and followed him.
While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Friday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Genesis 23:1-4, 19; 24:1-8, 62-67
Abraham Buys the Cave of Mach-pelah
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[1] Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. [2] And Sarah died at Kiriatharba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. [3] And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and said to the Hittites, "I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
[19] After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Mach-pe- lah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
The Marriage of Isaac
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[1] Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. [2] And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh, [3] and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, [4] but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac." [5] The servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?" [6] Abraham said to him, "See to it that you do not take my son back there. [7] The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, 'To your descendants I will give this land,' he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. [8] But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free form this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there."
The Meeting between Rebekah and Isaac (Continuation)
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[62] Now Isaac had come from Beer-Iahai-roi, and was dwelling in the Negeb. [63] And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there were camels coming. [64] And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel, [65] and said to the servant, "Who is the man yonder, walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took her veil and covered herself. [66] And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. [67] Then Isaac brought her into the tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
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Commentary:
23:1-20. The story of Abraham ends, strictly speaking, with the episode, which shows the initial fulfillment of God's promise of the land to Abraham. By acquiring a sepulchre and a small plot, he ceases to be a mere resident alien and acquires rights over this country.
The style of the account and the courtesy conventions used, as well as the contract of sale, indicate, by their similarity to Hittite customs, the antiquity of this event. The Hittites, or sons of Heth, carved out a huge empire in Asia Minor in the second millennium BC. It is not easy to explain their presence in Canaan in Abraham's time, unless it was that small isolated groups of Hittites lived there. Or it could be that all non-Semites living in the country were loosely referred to as "Hit- tites". In any event, what the passage does show is that even during Abraham's lifetime the promise begins to be fulfilled, though by purchase and scarcely more than in a symbolic way. This is very much in contrast with God's later outright gift of the entire land to Abraham's descendants.
23:19. In this same spot were buried Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah and Jacob, so it became as it were a symbol to the Israelites of the fact that this was their land, even during their time in Egypt. A mosque today stands on the spot which tradition assigns to the tomb of the patriarchs, venerated by Jews, Christians and Moslems.
24:1-67. Isaac's marriage is narrated before Abraham's death to underline the con- tinuity between the story of Abraham and that of Isaac. The next stage of the history of the patriarchs will focus on the sons of Rebekah--Esau and Jacob (cf. 25: 19ff). Apparently Isaac and Abraham are no longer based at Mamre (cf. 23:19), but more to the south, in the Negeb desert (cf. 24:62).
This account is very much in line with the context and customs of the patriarchal period, but its style is more artistic and it has a particularly discreet way of describing God's intervention. The story is told in five scenes and five dialogues, interleaved with short narrative notes. In the first scene Abraham and his servant appear (vv. 1-9); in the second, the servant and Rebekah (vv. 10-28); in the third, in Rebekah's house, the servant and Laban (vv. 29-53); in the fourth, at the moment of parting, Rebekah and her family (54-61); and in the fifth, Rebekah, the servant and Isaac (vv. 62-67). The narrator seems to savor these vignettes and dialogues. As regards God's intervention, it should be noted that, although it is never obvious, he is still really the protagonist, because he is providentially steering the course of events.
24:1-9. The tone of this passage suggests that Abraham feels he is nearing his end and he can see that God's promise with regard to his descendants and the land is being kept. Therefore the patriarch is concerned to find a wife for his son from among his own family, in line with the customs of semi-nomadic peoples of that time. However, Abraham is clearly adamant that Isaac shall not give up living where he is. The form of oath, with the hand under the thigh (cf. 47:29), which Abraham makes his servant take, an exceptionally strong one: it obliges the servant, whose faithfulness is evident, to do exactly what he swears to do. Here, once again, Abraham's faith copes with all the difficulties his servant foresees. He is fully confident that God in his providence will sweep away all these obstacles, which is what happens, as one can gather from the end of the account.
Abraham's decision about the wife Isaac should take points to the importance a wife has in sustaining her husband's faith and that of her family. St Ambrose comments that "often a woman's seduction deceives even the strongest of husbands and causes them to give up religion. [...] For the first thing that should be sought in conjugal life is religion. [...] Learn, therefore, what to seek in a woman: Abraham sought not gold or silver or property, but the gift of a good heart" ("De Abraham", 1, 9, 84-85).
24:66-67. In the beautiful conclusion to the story ("He loved her and so was comforted after his mother's death") we see borne out the words of Genesis 2:24 about the creation of Eve: "A man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh." Jewish and Christian tradition see the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah as a model of conjugal love.
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From: Matthew 9:9-13
The Call of Matthew
-----------------------------
[9] As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, "Follow Me." And he rose and followed Him.
[10] And as He sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and His disciples. [11] And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" [12] But when He heard it, He said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [13] Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
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Commentary:
9. "Tax office": a public place for the payment of taxes. On "following Jesus", see the note on Matthew 8:18-22.
The Matthew whom Jesus calls here is the Apostle of the same name and the human author of the first Gospel. In Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 he is called Levi the son of Alphaeus or simply Levi.
In addition to Baptism, through which God calls all Christians (cf. note on Matthew 8:18-22), the Lord can also extend, to whomever He chooses, a further calling to engage in some specific mission in the Church. This second calling is a special grace (cf. Matthew 4:19-21; Mark 1:17-20; John 1:30; etc.) additional to the earlier calling through Baptism. In other words, it is not man who takes the initiative; it is Jesus who calls, and man who responds to this call by his free personal decision: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15: 16).
Matthew's promptitude in "following" Jesus' call is to be noted. When God speaks, soul may be tempted to reply, "Tomorrow; I'm not ready yet." In the last analysis this excuse, and other excuses, are nothing but a sign of selfishness and fear (different from that fear which can be an additional symptom of vocation: cf. John 1). "Tomorrow" runs the risk of being too late.
As in the case of the other Apostles, St. Matthew is called in the midst of the ordinary circumstances of his life: "What amazes you seems natural to me: that God has sought you out in the practice of your profession! That is how He sought the first, Peter and Andrew, James and John, beside their nets, and Matthew, sitting in the custom-house. And--wonder of wonders!--Paul, in his eagerness to destroy the seed of the Christians" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 799).
10-11. The attitude of these Pharisees, who are so prone to judge others and classify them as just men or sinners, is at odds with the attitude and teaching of Jesus. Earlier on, He said, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1), and elsewhere He added, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7).
The fact is that all of us are sinners; and our Lord has come to redeem all of us. There is no basis, therefore, for Christians to be scandalized by the sins of others, since any one of us is capable of committing the vilest of sins unless God's grace comes to our aid.
12. There is no reason why anyone should be depressed when he realizes he is full of failings: recognition that we are sinners is the only correct attitude for us to have in the presence of God. He has come to seek all men, but if a person considers himself to be righteous, by doing so he is closing the door to God; all of us in fact are sinners.
13. Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic style. A more faithful translation would be: "I desire mercy MORE THAN sacrifice". It is not that our Lord does not want the sacrifices we offer Him: He is stressing that every sacrifice should come from the heart, for charity should imbue everything a Christian does--especially his worship of God (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Matthew 5:23-24).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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